Service provider networks provide network access to subscriber devices located within the network. Subscriber devices may include personal computers, laptops, workstations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless devices, network-ready appliances, print servers, or other devices. During the network access process, the subscriber devices issue requests for addresses via any of numerous network protocols such as, Point to Point Protocol (PPP), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol version 6 (DHCPv6), Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) or other network access protocol.
In response, the service provider allocates network addresses and assigns the addresses to the subscriber devices. Often the address configuration is unique for each protocol, and the network service provider maintains and manages multiple, independent pools of network addresses from which to assign addresses. For example, a service provider often maintains and manages separate addresses pools for the DHCP protocol and the PPP protocol.
Coordinating use of separate address pools includes the cumbersome task of ensuring that the address pools do not overlap, which is especially challenging given the fact that the volume of requests for the different protocols varies greatly. This often forces the network service provider to use oversized address pools for each protocol, potentially resulting in many unused addresses in one pool or the other at any given moment.